Tuesday, June 19, 2007

What's in your refrigerator?


When I was young and newly married, I would look inside my refrigerator and think, "I do not know how my Mom has so much stuff in her fridge." I thought mine would never be full. I can remember going to the grocery store with a $100 dollar bill and fretting over everything I put in the cart. I even carried a calculator with me so that, as each item was finally chosen, I would enter the amount plus a little more for tax into the tiny calculator.

At the checkout counter, I would, again, mentally add every item as I put it on the belt. The dollar total would climb and climb as the person checking me out scanned each item. I would fret and fret thinking, "Did I forget to put that in the calculator? Did that milk scan for more than I thought it was? What if it goes over $100?" By the time my groceries were all scanned and it was time to pay, I was a nervous wreck. Still, with these $100 trips to the grocery store, my fridge was never full like my Mom’s and my Mother-in-law’s and my Grandmother’s.

The years passed (quickly, I might add), and one day as the leftovers were being put away, someone said, "There’s no room in the fridge!" It took more than 15 years of living outside my parents home, but, finally, my refrigerator is full.

It seems that anytime my sons or their friends walk past the kitchen, they open the refrigerator to have a look. They may or may not actually get anything out of it. Maybe it gives them comfort just to see what’s inside. Yes, life is good, because the fridge is full. It makes me realize that when I go to Mom’s house, I just about always have a look in her fridge. I may or may not actually get anything out of it, but, I guess, it makes me feel like I’m home to see her refrigerator full. Besides, I have to see if she has any left-over macaroni and cheese I can snatch.

It’s funny to me that we can both have refrigerators so full yet have such different things inside. My Mom has blocks of cheese, liverwurst, Blue Plate mayonnaise, whole milk, apple jelly... while we have pre-shredded cheese, ham, Kraft mayonnaise, 2% milk, grape jelly... and, of course, a lot more. I’ll bet money that Mom doesn’t have worms in her fridge, but, yes, the worms that Ryan and Nicholas use to fish are there in the bottom of my fridge safely tucked away from the food. One thing Mom and I do have in common... Our fridge just about always has a supply of left-overs inside.

The left-overs in my fridge today are from dinner last night -- Fancy Filet Mignon, Coconut Pasta and Shrimp, and sliced cucumbers -- plus the last slice of Coconut Cake from Sunday. Someone will come along and eat those, but more will soon take their place.

The fridge is full... Life is good.

For more recipes, visit the online database at Great American Publishers.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Comfort Food


When I hear the term "Comfort Food," I’ve always thought of a hot bowl of chili on a cold winter day... or grits, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast when you have to get up extra-early... or a piece of my Mom’s chocolate pie made special when I come to visit.

This past weekend, changed my perspective of "comfort food." My sister-in-law suffered a great tragedy when her husband was killed in his place of business during a robbery. He also left behind a daughter in her late teens and a son in his early twenties. Danny’s death was so sudden, that it left us all in shock. But, not surprisingly, the family quickly rallied behind Cindy, Jenny, and Jeremy to do everything we could to help.

It was the two days Roger and I spent at Cindy’s house (she lives about 100 miles away from us), that I learned what a comfort food can actually be to a family grieving. Early Saturday morning, the phone started ringing with friends and family offering their condolences and thoughts and prayers... and to say they were bringing food. Around noon, the food started coming in carried by friends and business acquaintances and even friends of friends that Cindy and her family had never met. There was roast and vegetables, butter beans from someone’s garden, a meat tray with bread for making sandwiches, sodas in a cooler on ice, a chocolate pie, sweet potato casserole, hamburgers hot off the grill, corn, coconut cake, the list goes on and on and on.


With each delivery, there would be hugs and words of comfort and the same information related again and again. What should have been monotonous and more than a little irritating, eventually became comforting. At one point in the day, someone said, "What in the world will we do with all this food?!?" The idea of turning some of it away was even passed around. It was then that my wonderful Mother-in-law made me realize that the food not only brought comfort to people who were on the receiving end. She quietly said to us all, "Please don’t ask people not to bring the food. It makes them feel better to do something for you." And she was right.

I got some great recipes from these men and women, but also some good hints for the next time I’m on the giving end: 1) bring the food in disposable dishes so there is no worry about returning dishes 2) several people brought sodas and tea which was great to go with the food 3) one person brought paper towels and even toilet paper 4) several people put a return address label on their food which was great because we were making an effort to capture that information each time for thank you notes.

Here are some recipes that are terrific for taking to a family in their time of need. Start the roast before you go to bed and let it cook all night then add the vegetables first thing in the morning; it will be ready to delivery just before lunch. The 4 Ingredient Butterscotch Cake is super easy; I keep the ingredients on hand for anytime I need a last minute dessert. Cook it in one of those disposable aluminum pans on a cookie sheet so there will be no dishes to return.



--Sheila


Sheila Simmons is Publisher at Great American Cookbooks • Their newest publication Game for All Seasons Cookbook has just arrived from the printer.